When the Two Towers Fell

When Two Towers Fell
Christopher Bogart

When two towers fell,
It plunged a needle in the brain.
Our eyes were lidless,
Our skin, colorless.
Our fears paraded before us
In a panoply of horrors
That reduced the real
To twisted steel,
To silent screams,
To floating ash,
To tears.

When two towers fell,
Bile welled up in our throats.
We were choked
By our rage,
Acted out upon the stage
Of wrecked and ruined dreams,
Their seams sundered apart
By artless angels
Fallen from the maw
Of an all-consuming fire.

When two towers fell,
Flags fluttered
Freely from cars,
From windows,
From suburban porches and
Parkway overpasses,
From highways
And lampposts that illuminate
The dark places where
Fear finds to hide
From the timid angels
Of our better nature,
Rising past highways
Of red and white
To unite
On the night’s blue field
Of silvery stars.